Brandon Marsh :: 30 March 2013

As it was the school Easter break, we had Granny & Grandpa to stay. They joined us for lunch and a walk round the reserve - not the full circle as it was a bitter wind, just down to the East Marsh and Carlton hides. We were rewarded with a fly-past from a water rail in front of the East Marsh hide and then a short view as the water rail made it's way along the edge of the reeds, unfortunately away from us.

On our way back to the Visitor Centre we came across a small group of photographers following a pair of goldcrests down the path. We joined briefly and managed a decent record shot. Some of the others have posted their photos on the Unofficial Guide to Brandon Marsh site. Well worth a look.

Our sightings (39) included: carrion crow, kestrel, blue tit, great tit, pheasant, chaffinch, reed bunting, coal tit, blackbird, woodpigeon, black-headed gull, magpie, dunnock, feral pigeon, robin, water rail, teal, shoveler, coot, moorhen, wigeon, mute swan, great-crested grebe, cormorant, tufted duck, lesser-black backed gull, common gull, lapwing, shelduck, canada goose, greylag goose, snipe, mallard, gadwall, long tailed tit, goldcrest, pied wagtail, greenfinch and great spotted woodpecker.

Farmoor Reservoir :: 20 February 2013

The car was due for it's service and MOT so it was an early morning run down to Oxford; then back to work in a courtesy car before it was even 9 a.m. After a short day at work, it was back to Oxford for 4 p.m. and relative relief that the old girl didn't cost me any more than I had expected.

So now I was in Oxford and it was still light ... straight home? Nah. I'd heard there were 4 long staying scaup on Farmoor F1, so I popped over. On arrival I was greeted by a male stonechat that lead me up the slope to the reservoir edge. Boy was it cold up there. It took 5 minutes to locate the scaup and add another tick on my list. Another 5 minutes look around and then off home - too cold to stay any longer!

Sightings noted (17) included: stonechat, black headed gull, coot, mallard, tufted duck, great crested grebe, scaup, goldeneye, carrion crow, magpie, pied wagtail, kestrel, woodpigeon, cormorant, starling, grey heron, and little grebe. 

Brandon Marsh :: 11 February 2013

Woke this morning to a couple of inches of snow.  Duly had a lay in and then pottered downstairs to make breakfast and a cuppa for her indoors.  Next door called to see why the curtains were still drawn and once we had explained we decided to drag the kids out of bed and off we went to Brandon Marshes.  I can't believe it was October that I was last there!

We started with lunch as usual.  Due to the cold weather, the tearoom was eerily quiet; there was a rather daunting pool of water to navigate on Brandon Lane which may have deterred a few people.  Soup and baguettes consumed, off we set to squelch out way round the reserve - or so we thought.  We agreed that we would just take in East Marsh and Carlton Hides but the path to these was under water and impassible.  Off we trotted to Wright Hide instead.  On the way we came across a mixed flock which initially appeared to be finches.  They turned out to be Redpoll and Siskin. Quite a few birds were spotted out on East Marsh Pool, although most of the scrape was underwater. It was nice to see so many Snipe.

Even our shortened circular walk was revised as the path became very muddy as we came out of New Hare Covert.  A quick detour and back to the Visitor Centre for hot drinks and cakes - well I didn't like to say no, the girls were cold.

Our sightings today (38) included: feral pigeon, blackbird, magpie, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, dunnock, reed bunting, coal tit, long tailed tit, bullfinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, nuthatch, house sparrow, robin, woodpigeon, carrion crow, goldcrest, mallard, coot, tufted duck, moorhen, siskin, redpoll, cormorant, canada goose, snipe, gadwall, teal, shelduck, black headed gull, shoveler, greylag goose, mute swan, pheasant, kestrel and great spotted woodpecker.

In the garden, Banbury :: 09 February 2013

A late rise and "take it easy" morning.  So it was when making a late breakfast I saw what initially appeared to be a wren, hopping about in the tree on the edge of the garden.  Though, as it came to the end of a branch, it was apparent I was wrong and it was in fact a Goldcrest!; a first for our garden.  It must have spent a good 30mins moving around the tree but never quite slowing down or coming out into the open.  And then it was gone.

No sooner had I put the camera down, disappointed not to have a better photo, than a friend turned up not 5 feet from where the Goldcrest had been.  Our Sparrowhawk came and sat on the wall having failed to snatch whichever bird had been bobbing along the garden edge.  This following morning the Sparrowhawk could again be seen on a nearby rooftop, sitting in the rain for at least 10mins.  Visitors beware!

Duke's Meadow, Banbury :: 26 January 2013

The thaw was in full swing. Last night's snow didn't materialise, just a downpour of rain instead. On opening the curtains this morning I was greeted with sun, so off I went again to see if I could locate the waxwings from last weekend. Even before I left the car, I had them in sight. A quick few photos but then disaster - a couple of dog walkers rounded the corder and flushed the birds off into the distance.

Returning later in the day to see if I could pick them up again (failed), I would have been disappointed if I hadn't found an array of companions on my circular walk. They included: blue tit, great tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, starling, house sparrow, blackbird, woodpigeon, collard dove, fieldfare, rook, carrion crow, magpie, green woodpecker, treecreeper and bullfinch. Lets hope tomorrow's weather allows another search.

Duke's Meadow, Banbury :: 20 January 2013

I've been following @waxwingsUK for the last few months and came across a tweet indicating the location of waxwings in Duke's Meadow, Banbury. I set off through the snow to see if I could break my duck; I havn't been able to locate waxwings despite turning up at locations where there had been recent sightings.  With Landranger grid reference in hand, I arrived in the correct location and set about a search - it didn't take more than 20-30 minutes to find them.  Numbers had increased from the previous day's two, to six.  Yes, at last, and what beauties they were!  Thanks go to Kirsty Brannan.

West Kilbride and Seamill :: 01 January 2013

Back in the north for the New Year festivities.  What weather though; not unlike the rest of the country, the days were dull, rained and were windy.  So it wasn't until New Years Day itself that a walk on the beach was even a possibility. The weather changed, well partially, and the sun came out for a while - the wind didn't stop though and what was a cold day turned into a freezing one with wind chill.  The temperature outside decided that I would be on my own.

The sea was unusually high so the opportunity to see much in the way of birds was somewhat restricted.  The usual black headed gulls, gannets, common gulls, oystercatchers, curlew, pied wagtails, mallard ducks, robins, wrens, goldfinches and jackdaws were joined by grey wagtails and dippers.  A fine pair of dippers in fact and a great watch in the shelter of the Seamill Hydro's perimeter wall.  Hopefully we will see more on our next visit.